Author's Note: I got another chapter in! And 10000 words! And sugar! And
hyperness! And- I'll stop. God, it feels good to be writing/typing fanfics
again! Well, here we go!!!
Blackspeed_Mistress
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Disclaimer: Me poor! Live in cave! No sue! Sonic characters no mine! Own Marika, Bradley Robotnik, Faith, Rapture, Youma, Doreen, Airam, Latrommi, and Damien. Ooga Booga!
One Fatal Mistake
"Hey," Marika said, glancing over Maria's shoulder "You found it!" She got no reply and caught a glimpse of what she was staring at. The cat gave a sly smile, and replied. "That girl looks a lot like you, Maria." A small 30-second pause was more than enough time to go into mental hysterics.
"Who is she?" Maria let out. Her thoughts sped way over the limit. Why was her picture here of all places?! It's a big coincidence, right? That's just a picture of some other girl and her grandfather! She's seen bigger conspiracies before, is this just another one? Why? When? How? Where did grandpa take her?! The last one she thought had blinded all other questions in her mind.
Where am I?
"She was grandpa's sister and the older man was his grandfather. They died in a big accident before he was born. But if you would like to know her name-" Marika gently slid the old photo out of the frame and looked on the back. "-Her name was Maria Robotnik. What a coincidence, huh?" Marika slid the photo back into its rightful place She frowned as she saw Maria still in shock. That glazed look had been officially imprinted in her mind. "Are you okay?"
Maria's eyes almost filled up with tears as she sat on the bed. She had a brother and never knew about him! Finding herself staring at the picture, she tore her eyes away.
Marika frowned. She hadn't expected her to react THAT way. The cat sat down beside her and hugged the poor girl. "It's okay," She purred, "You must really miss your family." "I miss my old life." She cried. "I miss grandpa and my parents." More tears leaked out from Maria's eyes. "I miss Shadow!"
Marika waited a few minutes and gently pulled away from the embrace. "Come on," She carefully said while standing up. "Let's go downstairs and help grandpa with dinner." She nodded and the two girls headed down to the kitchen. Marika's grandpa was slicing peeled potatoes into little cubes. "What took you so long?" He asked noticing their presence. His voice had a hint of playfulness to it "Any longer, and I would have come up there!" "Sorry, grandpa." She cheerfully replied. "We couldn't find your pocket knife fast enough." Maria handed him the knife and Marika gave her a playful wink when he wasn't looking. They each did a few separate tasks for preparing the meal. "What are we making anyway, grandpa?" Marika asked while chopping up the carrots with a small pairing knife. She dumped them in a bowl and placed it on the counter beside him. "Beef pot pie. You two can go ahead and do something else, I can finish up here."
They exited the kitchen and entered the living room. Marika sighed, bored again. "What to do." She glanced at Maria who was looking out the window.
"If you lived in a space colony all your life, what would you like to see? Nothing technical, that's for sure. What's the opposite of technology? Primitive. What's similar to primitive? Natural. Hmmm, natural. Nature! That's it! The park!" "Hey Maria, want to go to the park with me?" The girl immediately perked up and smiled. "I would love to!" "Great! Grandpa, we're going to the park!" "OK!" Came the muffled voice, "Just make sure you're back in an hour!"
They exited through the front door and walked down the sidewalk. Maria sighed contentedly, now able to see actual life. "Well," She thought, "I did say I would go to Earth even if it killed me." They entered the park in a short amount of time. A few tall trees were scattered around with an occasional shrub standing here and there. Flowers lined up by the sidewalk that trailed through the land. With the sun setting in front of them, the colors fitted nicely.
It was wonderful for any person to be there, but to Maria, it was like heaven.
The smell of grass swayed through the wind. Crickets were chirping. Small animals scurried around to find a place to sleep before nightfall. Everything was so new to her! Her life on the space colony suddenly felt trivial.
"I can see you're thoroughly enjoying yourself." Marika said with an amusing tone in her voice. Maria happily nodded as they continued on. Marika decided to sit on a spare bench while her companion remained standing. "I'm going to look around some more, if that's alright with you." Maria stated. The cat lazily stretched and closed her eyes. "That's fine. I'm just gonna take a nice cat nap. Wake me up when you're done. "
So the blonde girl continued her journey through the park. She knelt down and gingerly plucked a blade of grass from the earth. Feeling the stringy weed between her skin, and smelling the fragrance of nature almost brought tears to her eyes. It was all so real.
"I'm too used to living in an artificial environment. This.this is just overwhelming. I need to find Shadow." She thought. While standing up, she found graffiti on the sidewalk. The white markings were neatly placed in the middle of the square slab. She squinted her eyes and silently read.
Never know what will come in life,
Never know what to feel, Slip and fall onto the road of strife, And prepare to eat your last meal.
Furrowing her brow in confusion, she walked to the next slab to find another cryptic message.
Many of you take good life for granted
I envy you, you see I wasted my life, hiding my love for him Don't waste your life, like me.
"So it's a poem about a lost love." Maria thought. She traveled on to the third and final set of lines.
I know, I've seen the future
It is very, very grim I know, I've seen the past And I'll never see him again
She grimaced for the person had to go through that kind of pain. Walking forwards, she noticed an oak sign by the sidewalk, a little ways from the written lines on the sidewalk. The girl silently read the black print to herself.
"This poem was supposedly made in the 1600's, near the beginning of the Salem witch trials. The author was accused of being a witch after the colonists tried, and failed, to erase the message. She was hanged shortly after. Today, this writing inspires us to act before it's too late."
Maria glanced back down at the inscription, and shivered. She could see the lady writing the poem with tears in her eyes, then grabbed by the executioner, forced to wear a thick rope around her neck, then feel the ground under her disappear while watching people laugh and insult her, then slowly choke-
"Maria!" She scolded herself, "No more, or else you're gonna give yourself nightmares!" Taking a final look around, she decided to go back to Marika.
By the time she had got back, it was dark with the familiar scene of stars in the sky. Marika sat on the bench and gently shook the cat awake. She yawned and sat up. "Nighttime already?" She asked while rubbing her eyes. Marika stretched, leaned on the bench, and looked up at the blackness.
"I bet you the stars look better from space." She commented. Her question was carefree. Maria also leaned back to face the sky. "I think the stars look better here. In space, it's so cold and black. Here, you have the atmosphere to go along with it." The cat nodded. "Yeah, there are many things on Earth that don't exist in space." There was a small silence between them as the moon shone forth. Half of it was missing, leaving it to remind everyone of an incident from before. And it DID remind Marika, only of something completely different. She noticed that it looked like it was bitten. Like it was food.
Her eyes widened in realization. She shot up from her seat and grabbed Maria's hand to pull her up as well. The cat ran with her guest behind, exiting the park, and nearly missing the large sign that read "Messenger's Park, 1895" in gold outline.
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Bradley fit his hands into the oven mittens and pulled out the rectangular glass pan from the oven. The smell of fresh baked pie filled the kitchen. He placed it over the stovetop to cool off. The elder man pulled out a drawer filled with knives and picked a steak knife. He then proceeded to cut the pie into squares. Happy with his results, he sat down by the table. His granddaughter would be home any minute now.
His granddaughter was growing up so fast. It seemed just like yesterday that he came to that orphanage.
FLASHBACKS ALERT!
A 40-year-old man could be seen entering a small building near the outskirts of town. Once inside, he went up to the desk and rang the bell. An old lady came up from the back and greeted him.
"Hello, welcome to Peacekeeper's orphanage. How may I help you?" The man took off his hat as a polite gesture. "I'm here to adopt a child." He replied. The lady led him to the back, where 10 children where playing. A small red haired girl was crying in the corner while a boy, at least twice in height was towering over her, holding a doll in his left hand. Two other boys were behind.
"Come on, Marcy," The boy sneered. The little girl trembled a little. "Take the doll. What, is little Marcy afraid?" The two boys laughed in back and the girl started to hiccup. "W-what's the p-point if you're gonna t-take her again, Josh?" She squeaked. It angered him that she replied. "I'll show you why-" "Why what? Why you're a snot nosed sissy, Josh?" A new voice rang. Josh turned around to meet the blue-green eyes of an anthropomorph. He narrowed his, trying to get the cat to back down.
"None of your business, half breed." He spat. The cat had now narrowed her eyes as well. She reached up, grabbed his neck, and pulled him off the ground. "I WAS going to go nice on you," She hissed, "But calling me half breed was NOT the best thing to do." His pals, seeing a smaller person could pick on a bigger kid, ran off for their lives. The elderly lady came back in and saw this. "MARIKA! Put him down right now! What did I say about fighting others?" She scolded. Marika placed him on the ground. He dropped the doll and ran, crying. She narrowed her eyes a second time at the lady.
"Then I suggest, MISS Margery, that you do your work for a change!" The lady huffed, and said no more. Marika turned to the frightened girl. She picked up the doll and gave it to her. "Sorry about that," She said, while picking the girl up to her feet. "Josh can be a real bully sometimes. You're new here aren't you?" The new girl nodded. "My name is Marika. Nice to meet you!"
The man picked his choice, and returned to the front desk. The lady, now slightly annoyed, sat there. "I would like to adopt Marika, please." He said. Miss Margery almost fell off her chair and looked at the man as if he was alien. "Marika? You better know what you're doing then. She's ran away from several different homes, each of them being pretty good." She commented while handing him the papers. He filled them out and gave them back. She accepted them, and they traveled to the back room again.
"Marika!" The lady called out again. Marika stooped talking to the small group of girls, and came over. She wearily eyed the old man. The lady continued.
"This is your new foster parent. Please don't run away again." She walked out. The man talked for the first time. "My name is Bradley Robotnik. But you can call me grandpa." Marika looked at him suspiciously. "My name is Marika. Before we go, what rules are you going to set?" "The only rule you have to follow do what you think is right." He replied. He got a disbelieving look for the second time that day. "'Do what you think is right.' You gotta be kidding me! Do you know what that means?" She asked, shocked. "It means you can do whatever you want, just as long as you think it's right." "I ran away from a nice rich couple, an old maid, a young man, a divorced mother, and a poor farmer. But that is the very first time someone said that to me. What happens if I run away from you?" "Then you can go wherever you want. It's up to you." "...Let me get my things." She went to the other side and started to pack her belongings. One of her friends came up to her. "Marika, what are you doing? You never take your things with you." "I think this place might be a little different, Sarah. It might actually work out for me." She waved goodbye to her friends and left with him.
On the way to her new home, she spoke, "You know what, grandpa?" "What?" "You're the first person to give what all of us really wanted in the orphanage." "And what would that be?" "Freedom."
END OF FLASHBACK!
The opening of the back door interrupted his trip down memory lane. Marika and their guest made their way into the kitchen.
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"Hotel, sweet hotel!" Sonic declared as he and Shadow entered the sweet. The room was huge, having a glass table near the window, a wide screen TV by the west wall with the couch in front of it. Tails was sprawled out on it, watching a movie. On the opposite side was a desk with a computer on it. Various other things filled the room.
"Hiya, Sonic. Hi Shad-wait a minute! What's Shadow doing here?!" Tails asked. His full attention was now on the hedgehogs. "Shadow got better! Isn't that great Tails?" Sonic chirped. "Yeah, but.oh forget it!" He then turned back to his TV show. The azure hedgehog shrugged and turned to his counterpart.
"What do you wanna do?" "I don't know. I thought you knew what to do." "Hey Tails, what do you wanna do?" "I have no clue, Sonic." "Hmmm. I know!" "Well?" "We can tell ghost stories!" "Sonic, what's the point in that?" "What? You afraid Shadow?" "That's it! Bring it on, Blueball!" "Can I join too?" "Sure Tails!"
Once they had everything straightened out, they each took a blanket from the closet, a flashlight, and turned the lights out. They sat on the living room floor in a small circle.
"So, who wants to go first?" One of them asked. "Ooooh! Me! Memememememememe!!" "Aww, but I wanna go first!" "Oldest first, Tails!" "But that means I have to go first!" "Ok then, second oldest!" "Fine, just start the damned thing!" "Language, Shadow. There's little kids here, you know!" "Hey!" "Shut up and go already." "Fine." Sonic turned on the flashlight and placed it under his chin. "Once, in a haunted field, there was a Twinkie!" "A Twinkie?" "Yes, a Twinkie! "What's so scary about a Hostess product?" "Lots of things, Shadow. Lots of things." You could see the light shivering, which meant that the holder was trembling as well. "For the love of the almighty!" "Language!" "Sonic!"
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The next morning, Airam woke up with a start. She stood and stretched, looking around the familiar garden. She noticed, there were a lot more chao here than yesterday. "Stupid Oni, challenging dragon honor." She thought. "Oni doesn't need to get hurt anymore, but he challenged dragon honor. He's going to hurt himself."
She jumped into the pond and swam to the other side. Many chao went to wish her luck. Although there was a few who were on Oni's side.
"Dragon Dog! Dragon Dog!" They jeered. She growled and continued on. "Do they want me to challenge them all?! Latrommi was never like this." She thought as she stepped up onto the ring. It was a medium sized platform, with a line in the middle. On the other side was Oni. His father stood near him, off the platform for support. Airam learned a long time ago, to support herself. The omochao sat in a high chair off to the side. It called for everyone's attention.
"This is not a tournament, but is still considered official. Begin!"
The two stood there, on guard for the other's attack.
"Oni," She called. "I no want to fight, but you challenge dragon honor. I fight hardest now. You need win." "You don't need to tell me to win, dog!"
He wound up his fist and punched. She sidestepped it, and swept her foot into a roundhouse kick. Oni stumbled backwards quite a bit and fell. He pushed himself back up. He aimed again, this time feinting. It had gone as planned, and he hit her in the stomach when she blocked. It had nudged her back a little, giving him time to serve another punch. Airam blocked with her wings and delivered a punch to his chest. It knocked him out of the ring.
"First round over! Airam wins!" A roar of cheers and some boos erupted from the crowd. Oni was pushed back up by his father onto the ring.
"Ready? Fight!"
In the next 5 seconds, a human came in. Airam froze as flashes of memories hit her mind.
FLASH! The smell of wood burning filled her nostrils.
"Not now."
FLASH! A troop of men hoarded through the wreckage, with their jackets flapping. Three symbols were imprinted on the back.
"Not when I'm fighting for dragon honor."
FLASH! The dragon elder roaring for her to run right after he was beaten with a metallic stick the humans carried around.
"Not when I'm against Oni."
FLASH! Gripping onto Latrommi's black paw and promising to meet, before being torn apart by the humans. The last time she saw him ever again.
He noticed that the human was keeping her occupied, as a black hedgehog coming in. Now was his chance. Oni attacked. And Airam snapped.
"Oiciba sunis suvangi sinimoh omoh!"
She caught the fist with her hand and kicked his stomach at the same time. Letting go of his hand, she slashed him across his face, not stopping her arm till her elbow crashed into his jaw. It knocked him to the floor, where she dug her foot between the mat and him. With a swift motion, the demon chao was airborne. Airam flew up and volleyed him back to the ground. She swooped downward with her elbows extended, and rammed painfully into his back. With the final blow, she dove again, landing on his body. Oni never had the time to counter, let alone breathe.
None of the chao had EVER seen anything like that. Not even those who were masters at chao karate. That type of fighting was beyond what a chao would learn on its own.
"T-t-t-t-t-he M-m-m-match g-goes t-to A-a-a-a-air-" The terrified referee passed out before he could finish. Airam had gotten off him and stood with her head bowed down to the floor. She quietly walked off the platform as others rushed to help the unconscious chao. The distressed chao dove into the crystalline lake to drown her turmoil and tears.
A smooth voice called from above the liquid sanctuary. The dragon chao swam to the surface and looked for the one who called her name. It was Shadow, who sat by the bank as usual.
"Hello." He said, with the faintest trace of a smile. She forgot her problems and crawled onto the ground by her friend.
"Hello, Shadow." She voiced. "What was that fight bout?" "Oni challenge honor." "That wasn't a normal fight, was it? What did you say to him?" She laughed. It was not her normal, cheery voice. Most of it was filled with a type of sorrow that pitied any who heard. " I was taught by dragons to say to humans. Taught me meaning in human talk. 'Dishearten the secret heart, cowardly humans!" BRRRMM!!!
The sound perked Airam's mood up dramatically as she hopped up and pulled Shadow with her. She pulled him to the edge of the garden and plopped down on her belly. She motioned the hedgehog to do the same and pointed downwards.
"Neutral races start soon!" She cheered with enthusiasm. With the blare of the horn, they were off.
During the race, Airam got an evil idea.
She silently edged her way to shadow's side, making sure he was concentrating on the game. And ever carefully, she gently poked the side of his ribcage. His ears twitched and a silent giggle escaped his lips.
If it were possible, the angel-turned-devil chao's smirk grew wider.
She started tickling her friend with no mercy. Giggles turned to laughter, and laughter cracked into full-blown chaos. Shadow managed to roll out of Airam's grasp.
"No.fair.you.cheat-AH!" He was attacked again before he could finish. Airam managed this time to get at his stomach. He flung her off after the torture and loomed over the chao.
"Oh Aiiiraam!" He smirked maliciously at Airam. The dragon chao nervously laughed. He dove headfirst, only to catch air. Airam sat contentedly on one side of his back and tickled his side again. He gave up and took his torture, which was doubled by another hand.
"Okay, okay! I give up!" Shadow heaved. Airam got off, and he rolled around.
He definitely was not prepared for what he saw.
Airam was there, smiling at him. That was normal. But behind her was Maria, smiling as well.
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Author's Notes: Sorry it took about 2 months. Let's say I had some.problems in my nonexistent life. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon. Sorry! This is Blackspeed_Mistress signing out!
Disclaimer: Me poor! Live in cave! No sue! Sonic characters no mine! Own Marika, Bradley Robotnik, Faith, Rapture, Youma, Doreen, Airam, Latrommi, and Damien. Ooga Booga!
One Fatal Mistake
"Hey," Marika said, glancing over Maria's shoulder "You found it!" She got no reply and caught a glimpse of what she was staring at. The cat gave a sly smile, and replied. "That girl looks a lot like you, Maria." A small 30-second pause was more than enough time to go into mental hysterics.
"Who is she?" Maria let out. Her thoughts sped way over the limit. Why was her picture here of all places?! It's a big coincidence, right? That's just a picture of some other girl and her grandfather! She's seen bigger conspiracies before, is this just another one? Why? When? How? Where did grandpa take her?! The last one she thought had blinded all other questions in her mind.
Where am I?
"She was grandpa's sister and the older man was his grandfather. They died in a big accident before he was born. But if you would like to know her name-" Marika gently slid the old photo out of the frame and looked on the back. "-Her name was Maria Robotnik. What a coincidence, huh?" Marika slid the photo back into its rightful place She frowned as she saw Maria still in shock. That glazed look had been officially imprinted in her mind. "Are you okay?"
Maria's eyes almost filled up with tears as she sat on the bed. She had a brother and never knew about him! Finding herself staring at the picture, she tore her eyes away.
Marika frowned. She hadn't expected her to react THAT way. The cat sat down beside her and hugged the poor girl. "It's okay," She purred, "You must really miss your family." "I miss my old life." She cried. "I miss grandpa and my parents." More tears leaked out from Maria's eyes. "I miss Shadow!"
Marika waited a few minutes and gently pulled away from the embrace. "Come on," She carefully said while standing up. "Let's go downstairs and help grandpa with dinner." She nodded and the two girls headed down to the kitchen. Marika's grandpa was slicing peeled potatoes into little cubes. "What took you so long?" He asked noticing their presence. His voice had a hint of playfulness to it "Any longer, and I would have come up there!" "Sorry, grandpa." She cheerfully replied. "We couldn't find your pocket knife fast enough." Maria handed him the knife and Marika gave her a playful wink when he wasn't looking. They each did a few separate tasks for preparing the meal. "What are we making anyway, grandpa?" Marika asked while chopping up the carrots with a small pairing knife. She dumped them in a bowl and placed it on the counter beside him. "Beef pot pie. You two can go ahead and do something else, I can finish up here."
They exited the kitchen and entered the living room. Marika sighed, bored again. "What to do." She glanced at Maria who was looking out the window.
"If you lived in a space colony all your life, what would you like to see? Nothing technical, that's for sure. What's the opposite of technology? Primitive. What's similar to primitive? Natural. Hmmm, natural. Nature! That's it! The park!" "Hey Maria, want to go to the park with me?" The girl immediately perked up and smiled. "I would love to!" "Great! Grandpa, we're going to the park!" "OK!" Came the muffled voice, "Just make sure you're back in an hour!"
They exited through the front door and walked down the sidewalk. Maria sighed contentedly, now able to see actual life. "Well," She thought, "I did say I would go to Earth even if it killed me." They entered the park in a short amount of time. A few tall trees were scattered around with an occasional shrub standing here and there. Flowers lined up by the sidewalk that trailed through the land. With the sun setting in front of them, the colors fitted nicely.
It was wonderful for any person to be there, but to Maria, it was like heaven.
The smell of grass swayed through the wind. Crickets were chirping. Small animals scurried around to find a place to sleep before nightfall. Everything was so new to her! Her life on the space colony suddenly felt trivial.
"I can see you're thoroughly enjoying yourself." Marika said with an amusing tone in her voice. Maria happily nodded as they continued on. Marika decided to sit on a spare bench while her companion remained standing. "I'm going to look around some more, if that's alright with you." Maria stated. The cat lazily stretched and closed her eyes. "That's fine. I'm just gonna take a nice cat nap. Wake me up when you're done. "
So the blonde girl continued her journey through the park. She knelt down and gingerly plucked a blade of grass from the earth. Feeling the stringy weed between her skin, and smelling the fragrance of nature almost brought tears to her eyes. It was all so real.
"I'm too used to living in an artificial environment. This.this is just overwhelming. I need to find Shadow." She thought. While standing up, she found graffiti on the sidewalk. The white markings were neatly placed in the middle of the square slab. She squinted her eyes and silently read.
Never know what will come in life,
Never know what to feel, Slip and fall onto the road of strife, And prepare to eat your last meal.
Furrowing her brow in confusion, she walked to the next slab to find another cryptic message.
Many of you take good life for granted
I envy you, you see I wasted my life, hiding my love for him Don't waste your life, like me.
"So it's a poem about a lost love." Maria thought. She traveled on to the third and final set of lines.
I know, I've seen the future
It is very, very grim I know, I've seen the past And I'll never see him again
She grimaced for the person had to go through that kind of pain. Walking forwards, she noticed an oak sign by the sidewalk, a little ways from the written lines on the sidewalk. The girl silently read the black print to herself.
"This poem was supposedly made in the 1600's, near the beginning of the Salem witch trials. The author was accused of being a witch after the colonists tried, and failed, to erase the message. She was hanged shortly after. Today, this writing inspires us to act before it's too late."
Maria glanced back down at the inscription, and shivered. She could see the lady writing the poem with tears in her eyes, then grabbed by the executioner, forced to wear a thick rope around her neck, then feel the ground under her disappear while watching people laugh and insult her, then slowly choke-
"Maria!" She scolded herself, "No more, or else you're gonna give yourself nightmares!" Taking a final look around, she decided to go back to Marika.
By the time she had got back, it was dark with the familiar scene of stars in the sky. Marika sat on the bench and gently shook the cat awake. She yawned and sat up. "Nighttime already?" She asked while rubbing her eyes. Marika stretched, leaned on the bench, and looked up at the blackness.
"I bet you the stars look better from space." She commented. Her question was carefree. Maria also leaned back to face the sky. "I think the stars look better here. In space, it's so cold and black. Here, you have the atmosphere to go along with it." The cat nodded. "Yeah, there are many things on Earth that don't exist in space." There was a small silence between them as the moon shone forth. Half of it was missing, leaving it to remind everyone of an incident from before. And it DID remind Marika, only of something completely different. She noticed that it looked like it was bitten. Like it was food.
Her eyes widened in realization. She shot up from her seat and grabbed Maria's hand to pull her up as well. The cat ran with her guest behind, exiting the park, and nearly missing the large sign that read "Messenger's Park, 1895" in gold outline.
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Bradley fit his hands into the oven mittens and pulled out the rectangular glass pan from the oven. The smell of fresh baked pie filled the kitchen. He placed it over the stovetop to cool off. The elder man pulled out a drawer filled with knives and picked a steak knife. He then proceeded to cut the pie into squares. Happy with his results, he sat down by the table. His granddaughter would be home any minute now.
His granddaughter was growing up so fast. It seemed just like yesterday that he came to that orphanage.
FLASHBACKS ALERT!
A 40-year-old man could be seen entering a small building near the outskirts of town. Once inside, he went up to the desk and rang the bell. An old lady came up from the back and greeted him.
"Hello, welcome to Peacekeeper's orphanage. How may I help you?" The man took off his hat as a polite gesture. "I'm here to adopt a child." He replied. The lady led him to the back, where 10 children where playing. A small red haired girl was crying in the corner while a boy, at least twice in height was towering over her, holding a doll in his left hand. Two other boys were behind.
"Come on, Marcy," The boy sneered. The little girl trembled a little. "Take the doll. What, is little Marcy afraid?" The two boys laughed in back and the girl started to hiccup. "W-what's the p-point if you're gonna t-take her again, Josh?" She squeaked. It angered him that she replied. "I'll show you why-" "Why what? Why you're a snot nosed sissy, Josh?" A new voice rang. Josh turned around to meet the blue-green eyes of an anthropomorph. He narrowed his, trying to get the cat to back down.
"None of your business, half breed." He spat. The cat had now narrowed her eyes as well. She reached up, grabbed his neck, and pulled him off the ground. "I WAS going to go nice on you," She hissed, "But calling me half breed was NOT the best thing to do." His pals, seeing a smaller person could pick on a bigger kid, ran off for their lives. The elderly lady came back in and saw this. "MARIKA! Put him down right now! What did I say about fighting others?" She scolded. Marika placed him on the ground. He dropped the doll and ran, crying. She narrowed her eyes a second time at the lady.
"Then I suggest, MISS Margery, that you do your work for a change!" The lady huffed, and said no more. Marika turned to the frightened girl. She picked up the doll and gave it to her. "Sorry about that," She said, while picking the girl up to her feet. "Josh can be a real bully sometimes. You're new here aren't you?" The new girl nodded. "My name is Marika. Nice to meet you!"
The man picked his choice, and returned to the front desk. The lady, now slightly annoyed, sat there. "I would like to adopt Marika, please." He said. Miss Margery almost fell off her chair and looked at the man as if he was alien. "Marika? You better know what you're doing then. She's ran away from several different homes, each of them being pretty good." She commented while handing him the papers. He filled them out and gave them back. She accepted them, and they traveled to the back room again.
"Marika!" The lady called out again. Marika stooped talking to the small group of girls, and came over. She wearily eyed the old man. The lady continued.
"This is your new foster parent. Please don't run away again." She walked out. The man talked for the first time. "My name is Bradley Robotnik. But you can call me grandpa." Marika looked at him suspiciously. "My name is Marika. Before we go, what rules are you going to set?" "The only rule you have to follow do what you think is right." He replied. He got a disbelieving look for the second time that day. "'Do what you think is right.' You gotta be kidding me! Do you know what that means?" She asked, shocked. "It means you can do whatever you want, just as long as you think it's right." "I ran away from a nice rich couple, an old maid, a young man, a divorced mother, and a poor farmer. But that is the very first time someone said that to me. What happens if I run away from you?" "Then you can go wherever you want. It's up to you." "...Let me get my things." She went to the other side and started to pack her belongings. One of her friends came up to her. "Marika, what are you doing? You never take your things with you." "I think this place might be a little different, Sarah. It might actually work out for me." She waved goodbye to her friends and left with him.
On the way to her new home, she spoke, "You know what, grandpa?" "What?" "You're the first person to give what all of us really wanted in the orphanage." "And what would that be?" "Freedom."
END OF FLASHBACK!
The opening of the back door interrupted his trip down memory lane. Marika and their guest made their way into the kitchen.
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"Hotel, sweet hotel!" Sonic declared as he and Shadow entered the sweet. The room was huge, having a glass table near the window, a wide screen TV by the west wall with the couch in front of it. Tails was sprawled out on it, watching a movie. On the opposite side was a desk with a computer on it. Various other things filled the room.
"Hiya, Sonic. Hi Shad-wait a minute! What's Shadow doing here?!" Tails asked. His full attention was now on the hedgehogs. "Shadow got better! Isn't that great Tails?" Sonic chirped. "Yeah, but.oh forget it!" He then turned back to his TV show. The azure hedgehog shrugged and turned to his counterpart.
"What do you wanna do?" "I don't know. I thought you knew what to do." "Hey Tails, what do you wanna do?" "I have no clue, Sonic." "Hmmm. I know!" "Well?" "We can tell ghost stories!" "Sonic, what's the point in that?" "What? You afraid Shadow?" "That's it! Bring it on, Blueball!" "Can I join too?" "Sure Tails!"
Once they had everything straightened out, they each took a blanket from the closet, a flashlight, and turned the lights out. They sat on the living room floor in a small circle.
"So, who wants to go first?" One of them asked. "Ooooh! Me! Memememememememe!!" "Aww, but I wanna go first!" "Oldest first, Tails!" "But that means I have to go first!" "Ok then, second oldest!" "Fine, just start the damned thing!" "Language, Shadow. There's little kids here, you know!" "Hey!" "Shut up and go already." "Fine." Sonic turned on the flashlight and placed it under his chin. "Once, in a haunted field, there was a Twinkie!" "A Twinkie?" "Yes, a Twinkie! "What's so scary about a Hostess product?" "Lots of things, Shadow. Lots of things." You could see the light shivering, which meant that the holder was trembling as well. "For the love of the almighty!" "Language!" "Sonic!"
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The next morning, Airam woke up with a start. She stood and stretched, looking around the familiar garden. She noticed, there were a lot more chao here than yesterday. "Stupid Oni, challenging dragon honor." She thought. "Oni doesn't need to get hurt anymore, but he challenged dragon honor. He's going to hurt himself."
She jumped into the pond and swam to the other side. Many chao went to wish her luck. Although there was a few who were on Oni's side.
"Dragon Dog! Dragon Dog!" They jeered. She growled and continued on. "Do they want me to challenge them all?! Latrommi was never like this." She thought as she stepped up onto the ring. It was a medium sized platform, with a line in the middle. On the other side was Oni. His father stood near him, off the platform for support. Airam learned a long time ago, to support herself. The omochao sat in a high chair off to the side. It called for everyone's attention.
"This is not a tournament, but is still considered official. Begin!"
The two stood there, on guard for the other's attack.
"Oni," She called. "I no want to fight, but you challenge dragon honor. I fight hardest now. You need win." "You don't need to tell me to win, dog!"
He wound up his fist and punched. She sidestepped it, and swept her foot into a roundhouse kick. Oni stumbled backwards quite a bit and fell. He pushed himself back up. He aimed again, this time feinting. It had gone as planned, and he hit her in the stomach when she blocked. It had nudged her back a little, giving him time to serve another punch. Airam blocked with her wings and delivered a punch to his chest. It knocked him out of the ring.
"First round over! Airam wins!" A roar of cheers and some boos erupted from the crowd. Oni was pushed back up by his father onto the ring.
"Ready? Fight!"
In the next 5 seconds, a human came in. Airam froze as flashes of memories hit her mind.
FLASH! The smell of wood burning filled her nostrils.
"Not now."
FLASH! A troop of men hoarded through the wreckage, with their jackets flapping. Three symbols were imprinted on the back.
"Not when I'm fighting for dragon honor."
FLASH! The dragon elder roaring for her to run right after he was beaten with a metallic stick the humans carried around.
"Not when I'm against Oni."
FLASH! Gripping onto Latrommi's black paw and promising to meet, before being torn apart by the humans. The last time she saw him ever again.
He noticed that the human was keeping her occupied, as a black hedgehog coming in. Now was his chance. Oni attacked. And Airam snapped.
"Oiciba sunis suvangi sinimoh omoh!"
She caught the fist with her hand and kicked his stomach at the same time. Letting go of his hand, she slashed him across his face, not stopping her arm till her elbow crashed into his jaw. It knocked him to the floor, where she dug her foot between the mat and him. With a swift motion, the demon chao was airborne. Airam flew up and volleyed him back to the ground. She swooped downward with her elbows extended, and rammed painfully into his back. With the final blow, she dove again, landing on his body. Oni never had the time to counter, let alone breathe.
None of the chao had EVER seen anything like that. Not even those who were masters at chao karate. That type of fighting was beyond what a chao would learn on its own.
"T-t-t-t-t-he M-m-m-match g-goes t-to A-a-a-a-air-" The terrified referee passed out before he could finish. Airam had gotten off him and stood with her head bowed down to the floor. She quietly walked off the platform as others rushed to help the unconscious chao. The distressed chao dove into the crystalline lake to drown her turmoil and tears.
A smooth voice called from above the liquid sanctuary. The dragon chao swam to the surface and looked for the one who called her name. It was Shadow, who sat by the bank as usual.
"Hello." He said, with the faintest trace of a smile. She forgot her problems and crawled onto the ground by her friend.
"Hello, Shadow." She voiced. "What was that fight bout?" "Oni challenge honor." "That wasn't a normal fight, was it? What did you say to him?" She laughed. It was not her normal, cheery voice. Most of it was filled with a type of sorrow that pitied any who heard. " I was taught by dragons to say to humans. Taught me meaning in human talk. 'Dishearten the secret heart, cowardly humans!" BRRRMM!!!
The sound perked Airam's mood up dramatically as she hopped up and pulled Shadow with her. She pulled him to the edge of the garden and plopped down on her belly. She motioned the hedgehog to do the same and pointed downwards.
"Neutral races start soon!" She cheered with enthusiasm. With the blare of the horn, they were off.
During the race, Airam got an evil idea.
She silently edged her way to shadow's side, making sure he was concentrating on the game. And ever carefully, she gently poked the side of his ribcage. His ears twitched and a silent giggle escaped his lips.
If it were possible, the angel-turned-devil chao's smirk grew wider.
She started tickling her friend with no mercy. Giggles turned to laughter, and laughter cracked into full-blown chaos. Shadow managed to roll out of Airam's grasp.
"No.fair.you.cheat-AH!" He was attacked again before he could finish. Airam managed this time to get at his stomach. He flung her off after the torture and loomed over the chao.
"Oh Aiiiraam!" He smirked maliciously at Airam. The dragon chao nervously laughed. He dove headfirst, only to catch air. Airam sat contentedly on one side of his back and tickled his side again. He gave up and took his torture, which was doubled by another hand.
"Okay, okay! I give up!" Shadow heaved. Airam got off, and he rolled around.
He definitely was not prepared for what he saw.
Airam was there, smiling at him. That was normal. But behind her was Maria, smiling as well.
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Author's Notes: Sorry it took about 2 months. Let's say I had some.problems in my nonexistent life. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon. Sorry! This is Blackspeed_Mistress signing out!